Fall 2014 November 28 Friday ("Progress" Positive and Negative)

44  degrees this morning, 58:10 minute walk, five earthquakes in past 24 hours

Wind this morning made the air seem cooler and harder to walk.

Good Thanksgiving. Great visiting, great food and great weather!

In spite of my better plans, I dd eat too much.  I took a little bit here and a little bit there and it added up to a substantial amount!   

However, it really was a one-time meal and I understand medical evidence is that one splurge won’t hurt you.  At least that is the way I read the study, although I may have had some wishful thinking!

The thumb/finger print opening on the iPhone is actually working well.  I think I was pressing too hard before this or maybe it learns.

I really like the screen because it is big enough I can see everything well, although I didn’t realize I had a problem with the screen size on the old iPhone!   Handling the size takes a little getting used to, but I really like it.  

Looking forward to another three days of options, since I am off Friday and the weekend.  

Thinking of the difference between Thanksgiving 2014 and the earliest Thanksgivings I remember.  

Computers, Cell phones, “smart” phones, better weather forecasts, safer cars, routine air travel etc.  

Probably a lot of advances or inventions  that are so common I don’t even think of them any more.

I think the major disappointment is the lack of advancement in “driverless cars
 and air travel  I really thought that by the time I was this age, cars would be driving themselves and we would be flying a lot more for long distances.

 Instead we are basically driving the same type car (although vastly improved) as we did back them and I”m not really sure if  air travel has actually improved or not.

Obviously the advancement in computers and cell phones is the biggest change, although  cultural and social changes were also major changes.

Also, the rise of terrorism was certainly not expected.  I guess no one thought such low life murderers actually existed.

I still remember my high school English teacher say that “no individual would ever invent anything major” again.  And that no major new fortunes would be made by individuals!  Absolutely wrong on both parts!  

There obviously are a lot of other changes no one really expected.  

I can remember when I was a kid.  I did imagine GPS in cars, automatic breaking when getting too close to another vehicle, spy camera from outer space and drones  Now that I think of it, I even had an imaginary terrorism group, although they didn’t have the human cruelty that exists and I considered them more as a lawless element.

We are actually getting to the point where individuals can actually be tracked like envisioned by many science fiction writers, and some entity can follow us and see us at all times, perhaps even worse than that envisioned by science fiction writers. 

I think the chances of this actually happening will happen based on “good intentions”, not some evil controller.  More on this another day.

That’s it for now, Friday, November 28, 2014.